Thursday, February 4, 2016

January 15, 2016 - Tampa, FL

Edith was anxious to start the day with sightseeing, but when she pulled up the shades in the front she was aghast to see the rain. The sky was so dark and made everything look so bleak. Abandon the though of going out? Maybe we will go out later in the afternoon.

Edith told Erwin that it was raining he made a grouchy face because he was as disappointed as Edith was.

Erwin walked to the tent for breakfast and coffee. Edith chose to stay inside the Lil’ Home (LH). Also, Erwin needed to check with Newmar guy for follow-up on repairs. “Sorry about the rain and we may do it or not”, the guy said.

After Erwin got back from the tent he received a phone call from Newmar telling him that the service technicians, Anthony and Kary, were at our LH, knocked on the door and there was no answer. They left when there was no answer, but Edith was inside. Of course, she cannot hear the knocks! Erwin told the guys to come on over and they did. They were not able to fix the air conditioning, but troubleshoot the exhaust vents in the kitchen and the bathroom. They used the last motor controller that we needed for opening/closing the slideouts for the other motorhome yesterday, so they placed an order today and have it airfreighted to the hotel tomorrow. The technicians were very friendly and helpful.

Service ticket taped to the windshield so technicians can find the unit to work on

We were about ready to head out of the LH when Anthony and Kary came back again. Anthony said he was able to find a motor controller that is more powerful than what we had, so he proceeded to replace it. When all was done the slideout still would not open! Anthony and Kary checked and checked to be sure the wirings were placed right, checked the slideout switch. All looked ok, but still it would not open. They called more technicians over.

The technicians had been at it for at least 6 hours before they finally figured out what the problem was. It was the piece of the carpet under the kitchen sink that stopped the slideout from extending out. Solution? Edith will be at the helm and Erwin will have to push the slide out to force the sliders to go over the carpet.

New motor controller on the right

Apparently the LH had a wall to wall carpet when the first owner bought it. It was later removed leaving only the remnants under the slideouts. There is not much we can do about it now. We will have it taken care of when there is budget for it.

The sun finally shone and the sky started to show its blue color. The clouds were very interesting. It felt so warm all of a sudden which was nice for a change.

Newmar Service charged us for an hour and 45 minutes of service instead of 6 hours. What a big relief! We were impressed with the patience and courtesy of the service technicians. It is nice to have someone come to do minor repairs while you are at a rally. We went to Newmar's temporary office to pay the bill.

We went to Camping World to return the LED light bulbs that we did not like. While there we picked up 4 leveling pads that were on sale for almost half price off.

We visited the RV show again, went in some models, went to booths. We did not buy anything this time.

Hey!!!See the SOLD sign...Someone actually paid a million plus dollars for this one!!!

A saleslady told us that it was the best photo attempt she saw the whole day

The clouds looked very interesting and the sunset was interesting to watch.

We decided to have supper at IKEA which was not too far from the fairgrounds. Their entrees are very reasonable and of good portion. Edith got stuffed chicken breast with mashed potato/gravy and steamed vegetables. Erwin had chicken tenders, french fries and garlic bread.

We did not know that most gates to the fairgrounds were closed after dark and the one that we wanted to go in was closed and locked. We did not know until then that the only entrance to the fairgrounds was on Orient Blvd. We were almost worried that we may not be able to get inside and spend the night in our LH. It took us more than half an hour to finally gain entrance to the campground!

A busy day yeah, but lots of stress! Hope everything will be alright tomorrow!

About Me

Erwin was born in Minnesota, went to/graduated from Minn Deaf School. Spent 11 years working for General Electric before he decided to become a welder.
Edith was born in Florida. Went to/graduated from FL School for the Deaf. Graduated with B.S. in Home Economics from Gallaudet College (now University).
Worked as a management analyst for Dept of Agriculture, retired after 31 years of service. Moved back to FL in 2004. Sold our house in 2016 to start RVing full-time.